


Blood is Thicker Than Water

by certifiedclutz



Category: Powerpuff Girls
Genre: Action, Character Development, Derogatory Language, Explicit Language, F/M, High School, Humiliation, Major Original Character(s), Manipulation, Romance, Sexual Harassment, Slow Burn, Time Travel, Torture, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-05
Updated: 2020-11-05
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:07:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27400183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/certifiedclutz/pseuds/certifiedclutz
Summary: There is an old medieval proverb about blood being thicker than water. Today it means that one's loyalty to their family is greater than their loyalty to anyone else. Originally it meant the opposite. Which one will it be? Figure it out for yourselves. A story about the next generation of PPG/RRB heroes and villains, as they come face to face with the demons of their parents past.
Relationships: Boomer/Bubbles Utonium, Brick/Blossom Utonium, Butch/Buttercup Utonium, Original Character/Original Character
Kudos: 4





	1. Not Another Bloody Monday

\--

She was running, her shoes splashing through puddles of rain, trying to escape the powerful blasts of energy that were being fired after her one by one.

She could hear two blasts being fired at her again, which she dodged expertly. She jumped into the air and dodged yet another attack and was only hit once, feeling a sudden stinging pain, much like an electrical shock spreading down her leg.

She spun to the ground, momentarily stunned. She made herself stand again. She was ready, she had to be.

Her body took off before she even noticed it moved, running faster than ever. She was suddenly hit with a wave of adrenaline, pushing her heart to her throat as she ran down the narrow alley, rain pouring down on her.

The blasts kept coming her way, approaching in an immense speed. Her chest felt tight, her heart was racing. Feeling her body weakening, she now fought to keep her speed up.

With every step she took, she could feel pain rippling through the leg that had taken the fatal hit just moments before. She knew she couldn’t possibly outrun them, but she had to try. It was now or never.

Suddenly she felt a strong surge of pain hit her in the back of the head which caused her to lunge forward. She couldn’t keep her balance and fell face first to the ground.

Everything went black for a few seconds and when she opened her eyes, she was overcome with pain. She desperately tried to get up again as quickly as possible but her left leg suddenly gave out and she tripped to the ground once again.

When she looked down at her leg, she noticed the fabric of her suit was ripped open from the knee down, as thick blood gushed out through the open wound. The cut was deep, but she didn't have time to dress the wound and make sure it didn't do any further damage.

She then tried to get herself to an upright position while holding her head in her hands, to ease the throbbing pain, but to no avail.

The rain was beginning to get heavier and she could barely hear her own thoughts over the raindrops hitting the asphalt aggressively. She had somehow managed to lean her back against the cold brick wall that was behind her for support.

The pain was getting worse by the minute and she could feel warm liquid dripping down the side of her face and onto her chest. Swiping her hand across it, she looked down at her hand which was now covered in blood.

She closed her eyes and leaned back, her body limp with exhaustion. She needed to rest and restore her energy levels.

She sat there for several minutes with her eyes closed while the pain in her head continued to grow, with blood dripping from her face and leg.

She knew she couldn’t stay sitting there suffering in pain. She knew they would come after her. She knew that this was an extremely dangerous mission and all about the consequences she would face after agreeing to it. She knew that this was her mission and her mission alone, but all the while she knew that she didn’t have a chance against them in her current state.

She was deep in thought, trying to figure out what to do and where to go to tend to her wounds but was suddenly interrupted by footsteps echoing in the distance, slowly making their way to where she was sitting. The sound was faint but with superhearing, one would be able to distinguish it from the heavy raindrops falling on the pavement.

She then quickly opened her eyes and tried to get up, but the excruciating pain was still there and she slumped back down on the pavement.

As the footsteps were getting closer, she could make out another pair of footsteps coming from the same direction the first ones were. She listened closely as the clicking sound of high heels on asphalt echoed in the dark empty alleyway, sending shivers through her body. She knew they were coming for her.

She knew she had to act fast if she wanted to make it out of there alive tonight. Her mind basically screamed at her to get up and run but her body remained stiff and unmoving.

Her mind began to whirl, her heart was beating fast, the pain that she had once felt was now becoming unbearable. The footsteps were coming closer, the sound of heavy shoes slamming against the ground, splashing through puddles of rain, accompanied by a pair of high heels strutting down the pavement. It was obvious that they were approaching her slowly.

She tried scanning the nearby area using her x-ray vision to get a glimpse of the remaining distance between the approaching footsteps and herself but the sharp, stabbing pain in her head was growing more and more intense and she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

She was injured and weak, her powers fading due to blood loss. Alone and helpless with nowhere to hide in a pitch-black alley, footsteps echoing louder than ever only a few meters away.

Her eyes grew misty, her vision blurred, and she rubbed them to keep tears from coming. Thoughts began clashing her mind, but she wouldn't cry, not today. It would be weak to give in to her emotions so readily.

She had put up a decent fight and she was not going to back down now. She couldn’t rely on her legs any longer, but it didn’t mean that she wasn’t capable of fighting back.

Her energy levels were still dangerously low, which meant that she wasn’t able to perform any elemental attacks that required a great deal of energy. The loss of blood and the ever-present pain in the back of her head were not helping either. She needed to heal up.

Looking frantically around in the darkness, trying to locate her attacker’s whereabouts, she spotted a small window at the far end of the alley. A basement perhaps. Why hadn’t she noticed it before?

This was her chance.

She thought of using the last bits of energy left in her system to make a run for it, but as she was planning to make a quick dash across the street to the window, she realized she couldn’t hear the footsteps any longer.

Her heartbeat quickened when the footsteps suddenly stopped. There was absolute silence for a couple of minutes, except for the sound of heavy rain hitting the pavement.

Maybe they hadn’t seen her, she thought to herself. Maybe they had given up on her. Maybe they thought she had succumbed to her wounds.

She sat in the rain, looking down at her injured leg which was bleeding more heavily than before. The thought of calling for backup had already once crossed her mind, but she knew they couldn’t reach her in time. Her phone being gone, and her communicator crushed from the previous attacks left her without much of a chance of survival.

She didn’t plan this, she thought. The attack came so fast that she didn’t have enough time to give the headquarters a heads up on her location. Situations like these were just something she had to accept when she agreed to become a field agent. It was part of the job.

This wasn’t the first time she had done something like this. Spying on high-profile targets was what she was trained to do. What she was expected to do given her supernatural abilities. It was in her blood.

It was however, the first time she had ever been caught red-handed treading enemy territory. She didn’t even know what gave her position away, but it wasn’t important. Now her only concern had to be escape, to avoid capture at all costs.

The last thing she remembered was that she was given direct orders to abort the mission and retreat to headquarters immediately. That’s when the communication between her and her team broke.

\--

The suspicious silence grew as she sat there in the pouring rain, back against the wall, face still glued to her leg. Adrenaline began pumping through her veins and despite what she was always told not to do, she was panicking. She was afraid of what might happen if she decided to look up.

Was she safe or was she a goner, she thought to herself. Would they strike immediately, or would they let her suffer in pain? Was there a chance, any chance at all that she could escape them, escape torture and death?

When she finally decided to look up, she felt like a hundred pounds just fell directly at her chest. Her shoulders shaking, her body soaked, but her blood-drenched face angled up to the two tall figures in front of her, merely inches away.

The shadowy figures just stood there like statues, looming over her in silence. She couldn't make out their features, but she could see their eyes, one pair glowing crimson red and the other cobalt blue in the darkness.

She noted that one of them was a good few inches shorter and if her suspicions were correct, the short figure belonged to a woman. The same woman, whose heels she had heard just moments before, echoing sharply in the dim alleyway.

“How long have they been standing there?” she thought. “Why haven’t they attacked me yet?”

Before she could think to move, a hand came out of the shadows, gripped her throat roughly and threw her against the opposite wall with such force that it knocked the wind from her lungs. Her bruised and bloodied body fell helplessly hard onto the ground with a loud thud.

She clenched her teeth as her head exploded with pain from the sudden impact, but she didn’t scream. She was desperately trying to breathe, every organ in her body was searching for air and she couldn't get her lungs to work. Her energy levels were completely drained at this point.

She desperately wanted to rip off the hot and stuffy mask, which was covering her face, in an attempt to regain her breathing. But as she was about to get up, a firm, dark shoe had stepped up to her face. He was hovering over her now.

Suddenly he grabbed her chin in a punishing grip and jerked her face up to his. Now she was facing him, her face only inches from his.

Her vision was blurry, but she immediately took detailed note of the man. His features were hidden by darkness, a black hood was slid over his face but didn’t cover his eyes as she could see two piercing blue orbs staring intensely back at her, filled with anger and rage. Sticking out from under the hood were strands of long blond hair.

“Did you really think you could escape us?” said the voice from the shadows, deep and mocking. “How incredibly stupid of you.”

She blinked in surprise, “He sounded young, far too young.”

His eyes narrowed and his grip on her chin tightened. She could feel some kind of power emanating from his touch. It didn’t feel right.

“And that little fight you put up there earlier, that was just pathetic,” said the man as he let go of her face, causing her to slump down against the wall behind her.

Her chin was sore from his grip, and she could feel a nasty bruise forming. The man then stood up; his intense gaze still fixed on her.

“Who do you work for?” asked a stern and commanding voice from the shadows.

It came from the woman, who had finally moved from her position at the opposite wall and stepped forward through the darkness and pouring rain. Her features were hidden as well except for her eyes, an unusual colour, burning with scarlet in the night.

She ignored the question and just sat there blinking at the woman, like a wide-eyed deer caught in headlights. Her mind scrambling for a plan.

“Fucking answer her, dammit!” demanded the man, violently shaking her fragile form.

Her head continued to throb. She felt a pressure in her skull and behind her eyes as small and blurry spots started to cloud her vision.

“Based on what I saw earlier, I suspect that you’re not an average cop. Your reflexes were fast, too fast for a cop that is,” said the woman observantly, breaking the eerie silence.

“You dodged the attacks pretty sloppily, injured yourself and somehow still managed to sprint away? Now, there's something you don't see every day,” smirked the woman, throwing a glance at the man beside her.

The man chuckled as he finally looked up from the beaten and bruised girl at his feet.

The woman then took a step closer and squatted down to her level. “Let’s just say, that’s not something we’re used to,” said the woman flashing her a menacing grin.

As they locked eyes, she felt a sudden, soul-shattering chill. She looked straight into the evilest eyes she had ever seen, burning holes right through the back of her head. It was like staring into the eyes of the devil himself.

The thought terrified her as she sat there on the wet asphalt, shivering in the cold rain. The woman was silent for a while, staring suspiciously at the girl in front of her, studying her intently with her burning gaze.

And that’s when it hit her.

Suddenly her face stiffened, and her eyes tensed. She grabbed the mask and briskly pulled it off, revealing her long locks of golden hair, stained with blood gushing from her head wound.

A pair of blue eyes caught her attention, the colour of a perfect spring sky. In that moment she was certain she saw something behind them. Something she had once seen before, but she couldn’t put her finger on what this was reminding her of. She’d figure that out later.

“You’re almost out of Chemical X,” said the woman coldly, flashing a quick glance at the girl’s injured leg.

The man behind her stiffened upon hearing the all so familiar name of the substance and shot the woman a worried glance.

Her eyes widened and her blood ran cold as realization struck. “How did she know?” she asked herself mentally, trying her best not to panic. “I didn’t use any elemental attacks, so there is no way they could have gotten it from there.”

“I can sense it,” her mental question was subconsciously answered.

“See the blood running out of your wound?” asked the woman pointing at her damaged leg. “That’s Chemical X leaving your body alongside your powers. I didn’t notice it before, but now it all makes sense.”

“Now I know for sure you aren’t a cop,” said the woman as she stood up.

“Hold on! So, what you’re telling me is that she’s-” asked the man confused but was interrupted. “A Chemical X being, exactly,” answered the woman coldly not looking away from the girl. The two figures were once again looming over her small form.

“How interesting, he didn’t mention there were any left,” continued the woman as she put a finger to her chin. “But by the looks of it, that’s not going to change any time soon,” she smirked. “Her body doesn’t have enough X to heal her wounds, she’ll be out soon.”

She felt the woman’s burning red gaze on her and she got the feeling that she was smirking at her expense. It was obvious that she was at their mercy, tired and miserable, holding on to the last bits of energy left in her system.

“Now in light of our latest discovery, I’m going to ask you again,” said the woman calmly as she crossed her arms, the certain warning undertone in her voice was unmistakable. “Who do you work for?”

She was silent.

She had made a promise that never under any circumstances would she reveal herself or her employer, even if they tried to force it from her. Even if they beat her senseless and left her for dead. There was so much more at stake.

It had taken her team months to finally track them down and even longer to come up with a safe plan to gain additional information regarding their identities and possible ties to a newly formed criminal organization. Some people even considered it to be linked with foreign terrorist groups.

She was almost certain its members consisted of high-profile targets and other dangerous offenders, whom she had come across at some point during her work in A.S.H.T.O.N.

But she had no proof or even the slightest amount of evidence to back her theory up. It was just a hunch.

It wasn’t her job to make assumptions though. Her job was to simply gather information on illegal activities concerning “people of interest”, report them and remain invisible.

But she failed. She failed badly and she could never forgive herself if the whole operation blew up just because of her mistake.

“Because I know for a fact that you aren’t the only little pest that has been snooping on us for the last couple of months, trying to intervene with our work,” she pointed out, her tone more serious. “There are more of you out there. Others like you.”

Her eyes widened at the last part and she opened her mouth, trying to protest, but no words came out. She remained silent.

“Still not in the mood to talk?” asked the woman as she stepped forward and motioned for the man to get closer to the blonde as well.

He understood immediately without being told directly and made his way slowly towards the girl. He knew exactly what she had ordered him to do.

Unable to find her voice, she continued to sit there in silence. Completely silent. Not one word escaping her trembling lips.

"Shame," the woman whispered, an odd note in her voice. “I guess we’re done here-”

Without a moment to spare, he grabbed her hair and yanked her to her feet, throwing her back against the wall that was behind her with a slam. The man then grabbed her by the throat with both hands but instead of strangling her, he just held them there for a good moment or two.

She kept her eyes tightly closed as she waited for his next move, shivering slightly in his firm grip. Her head pulsing and throbbing with immense pain.

But the attack never came.

She waited for what seemed like an eternity before she dared to open her eyes and look back into her assailant’s ice-cold stare, for that was all that she could see. Their eyes met for a moment before he tightened his grip, making her wince.

She struggled to get free as he kept a firm grip around her throat. He then lifted her up from the floor, her legs dangling in the air, as he added more pressure, keeping her pressed against the wall.

And then it happened.

She screamed at the top of her lungs as electricity jolted through her body, her cries of agony echoing through the empty alleyway. Her body jerking and constricting in his hardened grip.

Her eyes squeezed shut on her own as lightning began to burn her skin. Her piercing screams could be heard for miles as electricity bled through her body, jolts of blue lightning striking sharp against her muscles.

His face held no expression as he held her up against the wall, hands still clasped around her throat, sending jolt after jolt though her almost lifeless body.

But it stopped as soon as it began. He dropped her.

Her head collided hard with the ground as her muscles started to spasm uncontrollably. Her body was slowly shutting down, but she was still conscious.

Drops trickled down her face, rain and tears mixed together, accompanied by a few drops of blood every now and then, blurring her vision even more. She kept her head down. The voices coming from above seemed distant now.

Her eyelids felt heavy and her body felt weak. She was struggling to remain conscious, let alone defend herself, but it was a battle she was losing.

Her wounds were deep, and she had lost so much blood which meant her chances of survival were non-existent now. Not that she had a chance to begin with.

It then dawned on her that they weren’t going to kill her, they were simply waiting for her to succumb to her injuries.

\--

“She’s almost out of it,” smirked the man at the slumped girl at his feet. “Who would have thought that a couple of hits and a wave of thunder would do the trick. Almost too easy.”

“A little too easy, indeed,” said the woman disappointedly as she turned away from the girl and started making her way through the abandoned alleyway, her heels clicking across the puddles of rain.

“Hey! Aren’t we going to watch the ending?” asked the man surprised. “I’m sure it’ll be over soon.”

“No, we’re leaving,” answered the woman without a glance at his direction.

“Aw, come on. You’re usually not so soft on the job,” whined the man in response. “I could even speed it up for her. Give her another shocker. You know, put her out of her misery-”

“I said, we’re leaving so stop fucking around and let’s get the hell out of here!” snapped the woman, stopping shortly in her tracks, her red eyes glowing briefly at him from over her shoulder.

“Gotcha,” he threw his hands up in defeat and started walking away from the girl. “Kind of a weird feeling not having to dirty your hands huh. It’s been a while.”

She completely ignored his remark and kept on walking.

He suddenly came to a halt and asked her bluntly, “Wait, what about the body?”

“Let this be a message to whomever sent her to keep their fucking noses out of our business,” said the woman darkly as she turned on her heel and vanished in the darkness, leaving behind only a small trail of red light.

“Whatever you say,” he followed suit, disappearing in burst of blue.

\--

She didn’t notice them leave. She didn’t notice anything anymore, not even the pain. Her broken body lying on the cold ground.

As she laid there in the abandoned alleyway, eyes drawn to the dark and stormy sky above, tears also started to fall together with the rain hitting her face. With her head tilted to the side she closed her eyes and whimpered softly: “Mission failed-”

And then it came rushing in, the darkness, claiming her for its own.

It was over.

\--


	2. Morning After Dark

\--

It was a perfect summer morning; the skies were calm and clear with no clouds in sight. Just a brilliant blue sky. If it were not for the puddles of rain on the pavement, no one would even have the slightest idea that a heavy rainstorm had taken place the night before.

Suddenly a light blue streak flew over the vast and sunny sky.

Bubbles was doing her morning patrol over the city.

With the sudden decline of crime rates and drop in monster attacks over the years, the girls had decided to do their daily patrol separately. Bubbles covered the morning shift; Blossom did the lunch rounds and Buttercup was on night duty. Of course, they switched it up from time to time.

She was just about to call it a day when she spotted something down on the ground in an empty alleyway. At first glance, she couldn't quite figure out what drew her attention. It was too dark down there to tell.

She used her X-ray vision to scan the surroundings for anything unusual and the color red immediately caught her eye. Her heart sank into her stomach when she noticed a body lying in a pool of blood. A human body.

Without hesitation, she rushed down and dropped to her knees beside it, gasping in shock at the sight that laid before her.

It was a girl, lying unconscious in a puddle of blood on the hard, cold concrete floor. Clothes drenched in her own sweat and blood. Her once long and silky blonde hair was now fanned out over the ground, wet and bloodied and her body terribly bruised and beaten.

“Oh my god!” she whispered repeatedly. “This can’t be real!”

She squeezed her eyes shut to make sure that they weren't deceiving her. She told herself repeatedly that she was just tired and imagining things in hopes that it was only an illusion created by her fear-addled mind. 

But when she opened her eyes again there was no denying the reality. The girl was still there. As was the blood that was splattered on the concrete beneath her broken body.

She swallowed hard, sniffing back her tears and took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down. “Keep it together, Bubbles. You will n _ot_ cry!”

After having collected herself, she then slipped two fingers to the girl’s neck to feel her pulse point. She was frantically searching for a heartbeat but heaved a sigh of relief when she finally found it. A faint pulse was there but not for long.

She scrambled for her cell phone and shakily dialled Blossom, who of course picked up after the first ring.

“Blossom! Grab Buttercup and get over here, quick!” screamed Bubbles in panic.

“Why? What happened? Where are you?” asked Blossom confused.

“I found an injured girl. You need to scan the area. Oh my god, there is so much blood!”

“Bubbles, calm down and-” instructed Blossom calmly.

“I don’t have time to explain any further, just get here as fast as you can!”

“Bubbles, your location?” asked Blossom briskly, but Bubbles had already hung up the phone. Blossom huffed in anger, but then remembered that the Professor had just recently made new adjustments to their hotline cells, enabling to track each other’s location.

She opened the map feature on her cell and started scanning it for Bubbles and found a blue dot resembling her in an old, abandoned alleyway near Citiesville Bridge.

“Got you!” said Blossom as she slid her cell inside her pocket and started making her way downstairs to the living room. Buttercup was sprawled across the sofa, watching wrestling and seemed to be occasionally dozing off.

Blossom grabbed the TV remote from the coffee table and pressed the Power button. The screen flickered to black.

“Hey, what the hell?” shouted an angry Buttercup from the sofa. “I was watching that!”

“Yes, I can see,” she shot Buttercup an annoyed look, who in response rolled her eyes at her red-haired sister.

“An emergency somewhere near Citiesville Bridge. Bubbles is already there. Let’s go!” shouted Blossom, who hastily headed for the door.

Buttercup reluctantly got up and followed her sister, “Did another squirrel get stuck in someone’s chimney again, or is it something serious this time?”

\--

Bubbles didn’t waste any time and carefully scooped the unconscious girl into her arms and took to the sky in a rush. She prayed in her head that she was going to make it as she flew as fast as she could towards the hospital.

“Please hold on,” pleaded Bubbles desperately, “Please, just hold on a little longer! We’re almost there.”

The girl’s skin was ice-cold to the touch. Her body dangling lifelessly in the arms of the blue puff. 

Her clothing was torn, and blood stained her skin, smearing the light blue cardigan of her saviour, but she couldn’t care less at the moment. All Bubbles cared about was getting her to safety on time.

As each minute passed by, her pulse grew weaker. She was on the verge of death, frantically fighting for her life, which was slowly beginning to slip away and fade into the depths of darkness. Never to be seen again.

Bubbles couldn’t begin to imagine what this girl must have gone through the night before. Guilt washed over her in multiple waves as she began questioning, why no one had called the police. Why didn’t _she_ call the police? Or anyone, for that matter.

She recalled that Buttercup had gotten home late from her nightly rounds and didn’t seem to encounter any attacks. According to her, nothing was out of the ordinary, or so she thought.

\--

The girl was barely breathing in Bubbles’ arms by the time they finally reached Townsville Central Hospital.

She flew down to the ambulance entrance, through the automatic sliding glass doors and rushed the girl into the trauma unit, while shouting for a doctor. Completely ignoring the confused and horrified looks she was getting from the people around her.

She found a nearby gurney and carefully laid the girl down. Moments later a doctor rushed toward her with two nurses racing behind. The three of them turned the gurney around and the nurses started pushing it to the operating area.

The doctor followed closely behind. He was looking at his clipboard, hurriedly scribbling something down and occasionally glancing at the blood-soaked body on the gurney. Bubbles right on his tail.

“What happened?” asked the doctor, barely looking up from his clipboard.

“I don’t know, I just found her like this,” explained Bubbles, hastily. She was having trouble keeping up with the doctor’s fast pace.

He didn’t answer her, but instead just kept looking down at his clipboard.

“Is everything going to be alright, doctor? Will she be okay? Will she live?”

The doctor stopped in his tracks and turned to face her for the first time.

“Listen, I’m being quite frank here, her situation is very critical. We’ll do the best we can, but I can’t promise anything now,” explained the man calmly. “As you can see, she is currently suffering from external bleeding and in desperate need of a blood transfusion, so I’m going to have to ask you to leave, miss.”

“But I have to make sure that she’s okay! She’s my responsibility!” exclaimed Bubbles. She kept pleading him to let her stay.

“I’m sorry, miss but this is a restricted area and you have done enough as it is. I'll call if her condition stabilizes,” said the doctor, shutting the door in Bubbles’ face.

She just stood there in shock for a moment, staring blankly at the closed door before her.

How long had she laid there like that, her body sprawled out the ground, broken and mangled? For how long had she suffered? Did she ever seek help? Why didn't anybody come to her aid?

All those questions were racing through her head, but she was prevented from asking them by a sudden thought that occurred to her.

Looking down at her arms and her hands she saw they were still covered in blood. Her blood.

Her thoughts went to the bloody scene she witnessed earlier, and she closed her eyes as tears began forming. She didn’t want her to die.

But there was nothing more she could do for her, except call her sisters and find out if they had gotten any information on the girl’s assaulters yet.

She quickly wiped away her tears and started making her way towards the hospital entrance, but before she could leave, she took one last glance back the closed door.

“I’ll be back for you, I promise,” said Bubbles softly before taking off to the sky in a streak of blue.

\--

“Did you find anything?” asked Blossom, turning her attention away from the two officers she had spoken to moments before.

“Nothing new. The blood trail stops right there by the wall,” said Buttercup, pointing behind her at the opposite direction from her pink-eyed sister. “There’s nothing more to look for.”

“This doesn’t make any sense. _You_ were on patrol last night and you didn’t see or hear anything?” asked Blossom, nervously pacing back and forth along a wall, hands at her temples.

“Excuse me? Just how stupid do you think I am?” asked Buttercup, offended by her sisters remark. “As I told you and Bubbles before, nothing happened while I was doing my rounds. I went out, flew around the city for an hour and came home.”

“No emergencies, no break-ins, nothing?” Blossom asked, staring at her with a perplexed expression.

“Did you sleep well last night, Bloss?”

Blossom gave her a pointed look, “What are you-”

“Well, did you?” asked Buttercup, folding her arms across her chest.

After a heavy pause Blossom closed her eyes and sighed in frustration, “I did, but what has that have to do with-”

“So, there you have it. If no one called, it means that nothing happened!” Buttercup abruptly interrupted her. “Nothing that we know of.”

Blossom angrily turned her head in response and looked down at the puddle of blood on the pavement again. “Good god, there’s just so much of it. What on Earth happened here last night?” she asked herself.

She was still thoroughly shaken by the horrific sight. She had never seen something like this before. Sure, some blood was shed during their past fights with Mojo Jojo and countless other villains and monsters, but it was nothing compared to what she was looking at now.

She was beginning to wonder if the girl was still alive after having lost this much blood and if Bubbles had managed to get her to the hospital on time. She could tell from Bubbles’ panicked state just how awful the girl must have looked. She would have probably reacted in a similar manner.

She couldn’t even begin to imagine the sight of her, lying motionless, in that same spot she was standing next to, drenched in blood as it pooled out of her wounds.

Questions kept playing over and over in her mind. For how long had she been lying there? Hours? Days? God knows for how long.

Blossom was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn’t even notice her blonde-haired sister return from the hospital.

“You should have stayed out longer, nevertheless,” reprimanded the pink puff in a stern voice, her eyes still fixed on the red liquid in front of her. “We can’t let something like this happen again, Buttercup! We just can’t.”

While getting no response from her sister, she sighed deeply, rubbing at her forehead momentarily before continuing. “It is our sworn duty to protect the citizens of Townsville, but what happened last night is a clear indication that we failed them.”

“I mean, if we couldn’t prevent the gruesome crimes committed against that poor innocent girl, then who’s to say that we could prevent them from the whole city?” asked Blossom, a hint of worry in her voice.

“Just because crime rates have been dropping recently, does not mean we get to slack off. Do you get what I'm saying, Buttercup?”

There was still no answer.

Normally she would have expected Buttercup to lash out at her for lecturing her about their responsibilities to the city and its residents, but she gave her no answer whatsoever. Just utter silence. Something was off.

She quickly spun around to face her, only to find her staring wide-eyed at their younger sister, standing a few feet away, basically covered in blood from head to toe.

She clamped a hand over her mouth and gasped in horror, “Bubbles!”

Buttercup’s jaw dropped and she cried out, “Holy shit!”

“Calm down girls, it’s not my blood!” said Bubbles as she waved her hands frantically in front of her to which her sisters breathed a collective sigh of relief.

After exchanging a few words with the nearby officers, Bubbles explained everything from the moment she spotted the girl to her arrival at the hospital. Blossom and Buttercup had also shared their side of the story and came up with nothing.

The police couldn’t find anything either. According to one of the officers, no traces were left behind. They assumed that the blood belonged to the girl but collected some of it just in case.

But someone had to attack her. She couldn’t just have fallen off a roof. In a sketchy neighbourhood, nonetheless.

They had no suspects and no witnesses. Only a victim, who was unable to testify on her behalf. They would see to it, however, that the girl would be thoroughly questioned by the authorities. Once she has woken up, that is.

Seeing that there was nothing left for them to do, the girls decided to head home.

\--

The Professor was sitting on the couch and intently watching TV when the girls finally got home around 4 PM. Because of what happened in the morning, they all agreed to start patrolling the city as a team again and now just got back from their afternoon patrol.

Upon entering they collectively greeted their father and then went their separate ways.

Buttercup headed straight to the kitchen for a snack and Bubbles hurried to the bathroom for a “ _quick_ ” shower to get herself cleaned up. The Professor was so caught up by the news that he didn’t even notice Bubbles’ blood-stained clothes.

Blossom however, decided to keep their father company and sat down next to him on the couch.

“How was your day, Professor?” Blossom tried to speak over the TV.

Ignoring the question, he motioned for the TV and asked, “Have you girls seen this?”

Confused, Blossom turned her head towards it just as Buttercup emerged from the kitchen, holding a sandwich.

There was a man reporting live from the scene of the attack, speculating about the events that might have taken place the previous night. Suddenly the clip changed, and the camera was now focusing on a female reporter, who was standing in front of Townsville Central Hospital, talking about the current condition of the victim.

Evidently, the doctors were reluctant to discuss any further details regarding the physical state of the girl, much to the reporter’s dismay.

When locals were being asked, whether they had heard or seen anything, most of them collectively agreed that it wasn’t their job to keep an eye out for crime in the neighbourhood and that it was the Powerpuff Girls’ job to do so, for they are the protectors of Townsville.

“Jesus Christ, just answer the fricking question!” yelled Buttercup with her mouth full, little pieces of bread flying out.

Blossom wrinkled her nose at her and said nothing, turning her gaze back to the TV.

The Professor started changing the channels and oddly enough, every single one of them was talking about the incident in the alleyway.

One channel even featured an interview with the Mayor, where countless reporters were questioning him about the girls and what precautions should be taken to prevent something like that from happening in the future if the girls couldn’t make it.

_“Mayor, have our girls decided to take an early retirement?”_

_“Why weren’t they notified sooner?”_

_“Will the city be safe in case of future attacks?”_

_“And what about the monster attacks? What will become of them?”_

_“Will Townsville impose new safety measures to prevent a possible new wave of crime?”_

_“What about our children?!”_

_“Mayor, have you talked to the girls yet? What do they have to say about all this?”_

“Oh, come on!” Buttercup snorted, “They can’t seriously blame it on us!”

“That’s exactly what I was talking about earlier,” Blossom pointed out, crossing her arms over her chest. “We can’t lose the public’s trust!”

“Girls, what is going on?” the Professor cut in, looking between the two girls.

“Now all of a sudden, the city isn’t safe anymore, because we weren’t there to stop the crime from happening?” Buttercup snapped. “One person got hurt and now they are painting us as the bad guys!” she said, pointing her index finger aggressively at the TV screen.

Sighing, Blossom stood up from the couch, arms still crossed over her chest as she glared at her brunette sister. “If _you_ would have stayed out longer, like I asked you to, we wouldn’t have to worry about our reputation going downhill!”

“Girls!” the Professor called out but was ignored once again by the two shouting girls in his living room.

“Are you saying this is all my fault? Is that it?!”

“Maybe not directly, but surely you could have made an impact,” Her pink eyes narrowed. “If you would have been at the right place at the right time, then there wouldn’t be a girl on the verge of death in the hospital right now!”

“Blossom,” said the Professor, his voice growing serious.

Buttercup gritted her teeth as she took a step closer. “Listen here, sister. And listen good. I work my butt off every single day to keep Townsville safe, just as much as either one of you.”

“Buttercup, please,” said the Professor calmly as he made his way towards the green puff, to rest a comforting hand on her shoulder, but she moved away just as he reached her.

“It was _me_ , who agreed to do the graveyard shift so the two of you could enjoy your precious beauty sleep. I was doing you two a favour and if you think you would have done a better job, then it’s simply your fault for choosing the wrong shift. But don’t you _fucking dare_ accuse me of something like that!” she yelled, jabbing Blossom in the chest with her finger.

Her voice was a low growl when she continued, “That was low, even by your standards.”

Blossom blew her hair out of her face and gaped, “You little-”

Suddenly, the Professor’s phone rang, and silence filled the room momentarily.

He swiftly fished the phone out of his pocket, casting the girls a nervous glance. Their gazes still locked on each other.

“John Utonium speaking. Adam, is that you? How are you, my friend?” he said with a smile, which slowly started to fade from his face as he listened further.

“How is that even possible? Well, the medical field really isn’t my specialty, but have you tried a regular transfusion yet?” he asked, scratching his head in thought.

Blossom and Buttercup broke their staring match and looked up at him in confusion.

“Okay, I’ll see what I can do, but I’m not making any promises since something as complicated as haematology isn’t really my area of expertise. Alright, I’ll see you soon, Adam.”

The girls were still staring at him, wide-eyed as he shut his phone and slipped it back to his pocket.

He didn't say anything for a while after that.

Blossom was about to open her mouth to say something but was interrupted by a soft voice. Their attention was drawn to the stairs, where Bubbles stood barefoot, her wet hair wrapped up in a light blue towel. “What’s going on, Professor?”

He was staring off into the distance and seemed to be caught up in thought, but then reached into his other pocket, drew out his car keys and tossed them to the green puff. “Buttercup, get the car running. I have to go and pick up some things from the lab.”

“I’ll meet you girls in the car!” he shouted as he started running in the direction of his room.

“Wait a minute! Professor, where are we even going?” called Blossom after him.

“The hospital!”

\--

“Who were you talking to earlier, Professor”, asked Blossom as they were entering the hospital.

“What? Oh, it was an old friend of mine”, answered the Professor, hastily looking around the room as if seeking someone.

But then his gaze stopped on a tall man, who was chatting with a couple of nurses by the registration desk. He had thick dark hair that contrasted well with his pale skin. His eyes were gray with just a hint of blue to them, much like a crack in the clouds revealing a blue sky.

The man was dressed in a white lab coat, like the one he himself was wearing. It was unbuttoned, a light blue button-down Oxford shirt visible from underneath the coat, accompanied by well-fitted dark blue jeans and black leather shoes.

It was definitely him.

“Oh, there he is! Adam, over here!” The Professor started waving him over.

At the sound of his name he turned his head, “John?” A smile grew on his face as he made his way over to the Professor, “It’s so good to see you! I’m glad you could make it!”

“Oh my gosh, he’s so handsome!” Bubbles whispered loudly, fortunately for her not loud enough for the Professor to hear. A dreamy look in her eyes as she stared at the man, who was eagerly making his way towards them.

Blossom gave her a weird look, while Buttercup wrinkled her nose and whispered back, “Eww, Bubbles! He’s probably the same age as the Professor. That’s just weird!”

“But you have to admit that he’s ridiculously good looking,” shrugged the blonde puff, eyes still glued to the man and Buttercup sticked her tongue out at her in disgust.

“For his age, I mean-”

“Will you two just shut it!” hissed Blossom over her shoulder, trying not to draw the unwanted attention of the Professor. But the man in question was already gone from her side and headed to greet his friend.

As Adam approached him, he held out a hand, but the Professor hugged him instead of taking it and after a few gentle pats on the back, they broke their embrace and turned to the girls.

“Girls, this is Doctor Adam Holden, head of the Haematology Centre here in Townsville Central Hospital. We used to be roommates for a short while back in college,” he said, reaching a hand to grasp Adam’s shoulder lightly. 

“I thought you said that you shared a room with Dick Hardly?” Blossom asked surprised.

“Oh, I met Dick after Adam had left. You see girls, Adam and I used to study physics together-”

“But after a couple months of studying I realized that physics just wasn’t for me and I applied to Townsville Medical School. But John and I kept in touch after I left,” Adam interjected with a smile, exchanging a knowing glance with the man standing next to him.

“That is correct. To this day Adam remains one of my closest friends. We regularly exchange emails.”

“That being said, I’m still very sorry for leaving you with that Dick _Whatshisname_. I was never really fond of that guy.” Adam said as he nervously ran a hand through his hair. His brow was creased with worry as he looked at the Professor apologetically.

“Yeah, that Dick _really_ lived up to his name. Quite literally,” Buttercup snickered, and Blossom elbowed her in the arm for making such a rude comment.

“Ow! What the-”

“It’s nice to finally meet you, Doctor Holden,” Bubbles said cheerfully, offering him a hand to shake, which he took. A small blush crept on her cheeks at the softness of his touch.

“The pleasure is all mine. I've only heard good things about you three." His voice was warm and gentle as he slowly withdrew his hand from hers.

“Now, I’d hate to be rude, but John, I really need you to take a look at one of my patients. This is urgent!” Adam stated with a low voice.

“Well of course, what can I help you with?”

“Come on. I'll explain on the way,” said Adam as he gestured towards the elevator. The Professor nodded and followed, the three girls following close behind.

“She was brought to us just this morning by one of your girls actually,” Adam cocked his head in the direction of Bubbles, who noticed the gesture and looked at him in surprise.

Adam was talking in a hushed tone, trying his best not to reveal too much information, but he didn’t realize that the girls could hear everything, word for word because of their superhearing.

“What? You mean the girl that all the media outlets are talking about? The one found a couple miles from Citiesville Bridge?” he asked in shock. 

Bubbles’ eyes shot up at him and her mouth dropped open. Blossom and Buttercup both looked at each other and then back at Adam.

“That’s the one,” he sighed. “She lost quite a lot of blood due to external bleeding. However, there are no signs of internal bleeding, which is quite odd regarding her current physical state.”

“How come?” the Professor asked in a perplexed tone and Adam fell silent.

When they finally reached their destination, Adam pushed the button for the elevator and the doors silently slid open. After everyone had entered, he hit the button for the ninth floor. The doors closed and the elevator began to go up.

Adam then turned to look at the Professor, the anxiety visible in his eyes, “You should have seen her when she was brought in. Every part of her body was beaten to a pulp. I was absolutely sure she was also bleeding internally just by looking at her.”

“And yet she’s not?”

Adam shook his head in response.

Bubbles couldn’t take the silence anymore. She was racked with guilt over whether she could have done anything to help her, yet she knew she had wasted time by panicking. Precious time, that she could have used to get her to the hospital even faster.

This endless pondering wasn’t helping her, though. She desperately needed to know if the girl had made it. If she was alright and well.

Gathering her courage, she stepped up to Adam and asked, perhaps more pointedly than intended, “Doctor, can you tell me how she is doing? Is everything okay with her? Is she recovering?”

He could hear the worry in her voice as she repeated her concerns about the poor girl. Her sisters also looked at him expectantly, waiting for an answer.

“Please, Doctor”, she whispered, her blue eyes watering with tears, “I need to know.”

Adam became tongue-tied and nervous under the constant stare of three super powered girls stand before him, but he really didn’t want to share this information with so many people. He then glanced back at the Professor, who gave a slight nod in acknowledgement.

After a few minutes of silence, Adam swallowed hard, closed his eyes, and shook his head slowly. “We found a head wound that indicated she had been struck by a heavy metal object and therefore had sustained severe brain damage. As of right now, she is in a coma.”

Bubbles’ entire body went limp. With a soft thud, her back fell against the elevator wall and she sank to the floor as she stared at her knees. 

She just couldn’t believe it. She wasn’t fast enough to save her. She’d been too late.

Blossom gasped as she covered her mouth with both hands and slowly backed away until her back touched the cold elevator wall. She remained there frozen, trying to process everything she had just heard.

Buttercup was the only one, aside from the Professor, who stood her ground, completely unmoved and continued to stare at the Doctor blankly. Her arms tightly folded across her chest in a somewhat defensive position.

There was no denying what was going on inside their heads. All three of them felt equally guilty.

Each for different reasons for their own.

\--

After what seemed like an eternity, the elevator finally dinged and the doors slid open, revealing a long and well-lighted hallway lined with doors and benches. Adam cleared his throat awkwardly and began to step out of the elevator.

The Professor laid a gentle hand on Buttercup’s back and ushered her toward the opened doors. He then turned to the remaining girls and sighed deeply, “Girls, please. We need to get going.”

Hearing the familiar voice, Blossom shook her head as she snapped back into reality and pulled Bubbles to her feet. As they were heading out of the elevator, Blossom grabbed her arm and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

“But that’s not everything-” mumbled Adam, who was facing a nearby window, causing everyone to look at him.

“As I told you on the phone, John, her body keeps rejecting blood transfusions. It’s kind of like a haemolytic transfusion reaction that occurs when red blood cells that were given during the transfusion were destroyed by the person's own immune system.”

“But what is even more obscure, is the fact that we fail to even determine her blood type,” he continued, gazing out the window, overlooking the parking lot in front of the hospital. A distant, abstracted expression on his face.

“Um, I’m sorry for interrupting you Doctor Holden, but how does a body reject blood? I… I mean, I have heard of a heart transplant rejection before, but blood?” asked Blossom astonished.

Adam turned his gaze from the window and motioned for them to follow him down the long hallway.

“Well, usually in serious cases like this one, when we’re in a hurry to save a person’s life, we just don’t have enough time to determine their blood type. So instead we give them O Rh negative blood, the only blood type that is compatible with any other blood type” he explained.

“That being said, the transfusion reaction, that I mentioned earlier, _only_ occurs if you receive blood that is not compatible with your own blood. But mix-ups like these just aren’t possible anymore, because O Rh negative blood can be transfused to every patient.”

“I’m assuming you _did_ give her O Rh negative blood, but why isn’t it working then?” asked Blossom as they walked further down the hall.

“We don’t know why her body keeps rejecting it. Usually when we have determined the patient's blood type, we switch to that specific type of blood, but in her case we can’t even identify what her exact blood type really is,” said Adam as he suddenly stopped in front of a closed door, causing Blossom to nearly bump into him.

He ran a hand over his face rubbing at his eyes and then turned to face the Professor.

“In my sixteen years of working in the medical field, I have never stumbled upon something this bizarre. It’s like she has some kind of a new blood type or something. I… I just can’t explain it,” he stuttered, fumbling for words.

“Well, it all seems fairly difficult, but how can I be of any assistance to you?” asked the Professor, a baffled expression visible on his face. “Surely you could have asked someone more knowledgeable than myself, regarding this particular matter.”

“She’s running out of time, John. I can’t help her, but maybe you can. That is the reason I called you.”

A moment later, Adam slowly opened the door to the room, revealing a person lying in a hospital bed. A gray curtain was hiding the top half of their body, but as they all stepped closer to the bed, they could see strands of long golden hair spilled out across the pillow.

“That’s _her_?” Buttercup choked out and Bubbles heart sank.

It was her.

There she was, lying motionless in the bed, unable to speak and unable to move. Her head was wrapped in bandages along with her left calf. There were bruises all over her body that were at different stages of healing. Her complexion was pale and the dark circles under her eyes were almost too noticeable. 

An oxygen mask was covering her nose and mouth and various tubes hung down from stands and connected to her arm. But something else was there as well.

Blossom stepped closer to the bed to get a better look at her. She blinked in confusion when she noticed a tube that was attached to her arm which connected to a transfusion bag. 

“You are still giving her blood? I thought you said that O Rh negative wouldn’t work on her?” she asked, throwing a suspicious glance at the doctor.

Lifting one hand, Adam began to rub the back of his neck. “Here’s another peculiar thing-”

“How is she still alive?” interrupted the Professor and the girls flashed a confused look at him. “Because by what you just described, I’m guessing that she has lost over forty percent of her total blood volume.”

“Wait, what does that mean?” asked Buttercup, her gaze flickering between the two men.

Adam was taken aback by his sudden statement but then crossed his arms and smirked rather impressed. “And here I thought you didn’t know much about haematology.”

At that moment, something flickered in Blossom’s mind and her eyes shot in his direction. “Wait a minute! If Bubbles found her sometime in the morning and you weren’t able to give her a blood transfusion, then wouldn’t she be dead by now?”

“She was breathing when I found her! I’m absolutely sure of it!” cried Bubbles, who had rushed up to the girl’s bed and was now clutching her bruised hand in hers. It was the first time she had spoken since getting out of the elevator.

“Adam, what is going on here? What are you not telling me?” asked the Professor, his voice taking on a tone of seriousness that even the girls rarely heard from him. 

Buttercup grew impatient and decided to position herself between the two men. Facing Adam, she shot him a warning glare, “Looks like you’ve got some serious explaining to do, Doc.”

Adam cleared his throat again, a trait that indicated how nervous he had become over the last couple of minutes, but his voice still came out rough as he spoke.

“Look, I understand the confusion and believe me as I say, that being a man of medicine myself and not being able to explain this rare medical phenomenon, is even more baffling.”

“I don’t understand,” replied Blossom.

“Well, that's a first,” Buttercup snorted, drawing her attention, "It's about time you finally admitted it.”

Blossom issued her sister a look. She wanted to bite back at her but decided to ignore her childish behaviour and remain calm. That’ll get to her even more.

„I’m just going to ignore that,” said the redhead dryly.

„That’s what you do best.“ The girls narrowed their eyes at each other.

“ _Anyway_ , like you said Blossom, a normal human being would presumably be dead by now considering her injuries and loss of blood volume. Also, given the fact that we don’t exactly know how long ago this happened” said Adam as he reached for a clipboard on the small table beside the bed.

As he began going through the papers attached to it, Buttercup had finally reached her limit. She couldn’t take the secrecy any longer, so with one swift motion she snatched the clipboard from the doctor’s grip, which startled him.

“Buttercup!” Blossom snapped, “How could you?”

The green puff shot her a look of indifference and handed the clipboard over to the Professor.

He was shocked by her behaviour at first but then turned his attention towards Adam, who had remained silent. He leaned his back against the wall, arms crossed and sighed deeply, “I’ve got nothing to hide, so you might as well look at it.”

The Professor nodded, obviously still unsure about the situation, but decided to go through the papers anyway. He took a mental note to remind Buttercup a thing or two about boundaries and privacy later.

He swept a finger along the lines as he read through the stack of information placed in his hands. Adam watched in amazement, how his friend went through each page in a matter of seconds. He had almost forgotten that the Professor had been a fast reader since their time in college together and would always get through a book rather quickly.

The Professor’s eyes suddenly went wide as he seemed to have some sort of epiphany, and rushed to the girl’s bedside, dropping the clipboard in the process.

Bubbles saw his reaction and pressed him, “What is it, Professor?”

He was looking at the girl, examining the head wound that was wrapped in bandages, in a kind of mad intensity as if trying to decide what to do now. After a few minutes of silence, he finally spoke again, “There is a reason why human blood isn’t working, alright.”

“Human blood?” Blossom asked.

The Professor nodded and turned his head towards the doctor, “Adam! I’m going to need a place to set up my utensils. Also, I’ll be needing a sample of her blood. Can you do that for me?”

“Anything!” said Adam avidly, as he grabbed the clipboard and hurried out of the room. The echo of his footsteps fading down the hallway as he got farther away.

When they couldn’t hear his footsteps any longer, Buttercup went up to the door and slammed it shut. “Alright, what the hell is going on here?” she demanded, exasperated.

“Professor, what’s wrong with her?” Bubbles asked in a trembling voice.

“And what did you mean by human blood?” added Blossom.

“Alright, I think you girls have a right to know this, but it would be best if you sat down first.” He started fiddling with his tie, which was what he did when he was nervous. “Adam couldn’t help this girl, because the reason lies far beyond his reach-”

They looked at him dumbfounded, unable to comprehend his words. He thought so. He would react the same way.

He drew a deep breath, cleared his throat, and said, “Girls, she’s not human.”

\--


End file.
